The Path through Fire and Death
by Jesterman
Summary: During the timeskip Naruto gained an ally even more unpredictable than him. One thing neither of them predicted is the evil that will arise to destroy all they care about and the path that Naruto and some of his friends must now take. Rating may change
1. Prologue

**Jesterman**: Hi this is my first fanfic and I hope you (the people reading my fanfic) will enjoy reading this and please **READ AND REVIEW** it for me. Be aware that this is a Naru/Hina fanfic. I would like to take this time to inform everyone that I took some materials from two of my favorite fanfics to help me write this and were also some inspiration to this story. I would like to recommend these fanfics to all my readers.

**Lacking Sight**

**Two Halves**

I needed at least two more Kekkei Genkais for my story and I decided to take the idea from the creator of **Two Halves** about the lands west of the current Naruto series map and say that a large mountain ranged between both helped to limit contact between the "west" and the "east".

I would like to apologize in advance for the fact that my Japanese is not very good so most of the Jutsus will be written in English. I'll be using what mostly feel comfortable with.

The words and actions will be written in the following category:

**Jutsus: Bold**

_Characters' Thoughts: 'Italics'_

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and if I did I probably wouldn't be writing a fanfic here, when I could be making money writing this stuff for real.

Note to the Readers: The prologue takes place about two months before Naruto comes back from his 2½ years of training with Jiraiya. The 1st and maybe 2nd and 3rd chapters of the story takes place in the 2 weeks before Naruto's return with the rest taking place during and after.

Rated T for now. 

**The Path through Fire and Death**

**Prologue**

Shinji Tsunagi was enjoying his first visit to Konoha and was very intrigued by the sights he saw. Of course Shinji always seemed to be in a good mood to the slight annoyance of most of the people around him and was intrigued by nearly everything he saw no matter how unimportant or insignificant on a daily basis. So the odds were that Konoha didn't really have much that would impress any normal person in his shoes. Most of Shinji's curiosity and anticipation came from the fact that he was finally seeing the place and getting the chance to meet the people that his friend Naruto Uzumaki had told him so much about. They had spent a little bit more than a year together and in that time Naruto had spoken a lot about the place he grew up in and the friends he had there. This, however, was not by far the real reason for Shinji coming here. Nonetheless, Shinji took his sweet time enjoying his first visit to Konoha.

His appearance and current outfit could be considered a little uncommon, but compared to many of the residents in Konoha it was nothing to take much notice of. He was about 17½ years old with cyan colored eyes and mildly long spiky brown hair with the hair on the back of his neck tied at the base leaving the rest to stick out. He had a well-toned body with lightly tanned skin, was about 5'9" tall and wore a black beaded necklace around his neck, along with two small silver ear rings on each ear both covered in small rune-like designs. He wore a plain unbuttoned white jacket with the sleeves stopping at the elbows. Underneath the jacket was a dark blue sleeveless shirt covered by a weighted black armor vest. Also, he carried two katanas. One was strapped to his back with the handle sticking out behind his right shoulder, and the other was being carried in his plain forest green backpack. He had black weighted padding covering most of his forearm with the fingerless metal backed gloves like your standard ninja. He wore long loose-fitting black pants with the bottoms tucked into some black leg weights, and he carried a belt containing several kunai and shuriken holsters. Finally, his last accessory included an odd pair of dark navy blue sandal-like boots.

While most of his attire went largely unnoticed, his weapons (and his naïve personality) gathered the attention of many in the village including the ninja on patrol.

Without the slightest indication of alarm, Shinji noticed that he had been spotted by some ninja and was currently being followed by two ninjas on the rooftops and one disguised as a common villager following him through the crowd.

Shinji, being Shinji, waved at the two on the roof and the one in the crowd causing the one on the ground to sweat drop and the female of the two on the roof to fall over.

With that done Shinji continued his walk with the three ninjas following him trying to keep a better distance.

Shinji continued with his site-seeing as though nothing had happened. That was until he spotted someone who matched the description of Kakashi Hatake.

Shinji, now excited to meet someone he had been told so much about, decided to go over and meet Kakashi.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kakashi was sitting down on a park bench enjoying his Icha Icha Paradise book in peace. That was until he was nearly startled by an unexpected visitor's arrival.

Kakashi remained calm and lowered his book. '_I didn't even notice this kid until he was within arms reach I better watch my guard with this one.'_ "Hello can I help you with something," asks Kakashi.

"Would your name, by chance be Kakashi Hatake?"

Looking him in the eye Kakashi responded, "I suppose so. Now than, who are you?"

"My name is Shinji Tsunagi. It's nice to finally meet you. I've been told so much about you."

"Who told you abou…?" It was than that Kakashi realized that his precious book was missing from his hand. When he turned to look at Shinji he noticed that Shinji was reading his book!

Kakashi quickly reached out to grab the book from Shinji's hand, but Shinji quickly moved his hand aside without taking his eyes off of the book. Kakashi tried a second time, same results, third time not much better, fourth time no luck.

To a passerby and the ninja that had followed Shinji this seemed quite comical (in fact the kunoichi among them couldn't help but chuckle), though the ninja were a little concerned that he appeared to have quicker reflexes than Kakashi.

As this continued, Kakashi began to notice that when he did come close to grabbing his book that it would, for a brief time, become transparent and somehow pass through his hand.

Deciding that this had gone on too long, Kakashi pulled the left part of his headband up to activate his trump card, his Sharingun eye. He than activated its hypnotic ability by causing the eye to literally spin and concentrated on hypnotizing his new foe.

Shinji watch Kakashi's Sharingun eye continued to spin. After a few seconds to Kakashi's surprise, Shinji looked him straight in both eyes and asked, "Wow, that's a nice trick, how do you get your eye to do that?"

Kakashi was stunned. _'I don't believe it! The Sharingun had no effect on him and he was looking straight at it!!!"_

Before Kakashi could say anything Shinji decided that he should hurry if he wants to make it to the appointment he had today on time.

"Hmm, I guess Naruto was right about you, you are a little weird. Well I better get going. It was nice to finally meeting you."

After he got about two steps away he turned around and said something that shocked Kakashi even more than his Sharingun eye not working, "Oh, and by the way, I would be very careful about reading these books around Kira. You should know that she might get really mad and you would be in a lot of trouble."

With that said Shinji turned around and left a stunned and slightly horrified Kakashi sitting on a park bench.

Kakashi's only thoughts were _'Kirara…………?'_

Kakashi had completely forgotten that Shinji still had his book.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

59 minutes later in the Hokage's office….

Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage and one of the three legendary Sannin was bored and irritated with the large stacks of paperwork that had to be reviewed and signed by her. She had already tried four times to sneak out, but Shizune caught her and managed to foil every one of her attempts. Tsunade sighed. Shizune had this place locked down tighter than any prison cell she had heard of. No one could get in or out without Shizune or someone she had watching noticing.

It was just then that Tsunade looked up from her desk and was shocked into falling out of her seat by a smiling face appearing in front of her.

"How the HELL did you get in here," shouts Tsunade as she was quickly getting up. She also noticed that this intruder was apparently armed.

The intruder responded, "I walked in here."

"YEA RIGHT, now tell me who are you!"

"My name is Shinji Tsunagi and I'm here for the appointment."

"What appointment!?"

"The one scheduled for today. Oh wait, I almost forgot to hand you this." He than tossed a scroll to her, which she promptly read.

Just then, Shizune along with several ANBU guards walked in wondering what all the shouting was about. They were immediately surprised to find that Tsunade was not alone and that this intruder was also armed. Once they saw this they immediately took up defensive positions around the room, ready to strike down the intruder at a moments notice.

Said intruder was taking in all of this with a curious expression and appeared to be oblivious to what was going on around him. After a quick visual inspection, one of the ANBU guards said, "this kid matches the descriptions of the one that managed to disappear from the patrol that was monitoring him about an hour ago." With this the mood around the room intensified.

"What are you doing here", Shizune asks the teenager.

Shinji looked around for a bit and than asks, "You mean me?"

"Yes."

"Sitting, why?"

"Don't play dumb with me I asked you a question now answer it!"

"I'm sorry, but I am not playing anything and I answered your question. Now if you will excuse me I am in a meeting right now and I was here first. So if you would just kindly step outside and wait your turn I am sure that someone will be able to help you later. Just be patient."

Before Shizune could respond to Shinji's odd statement Tsunade said, "It's okay Shizune, his name is Shinji Tsunagi and he was suppose to meet me, but that is not for another ten days."

"Sorry, I was a so excited about coming here that I decided to come a little earlier," said Shinji.

"Next time, just try to send word ahead of time okay?"

"Okay."

"Good. Now than, except for Shizune, I would like the rest of you to leave."

All the ANBU left the room. Shinji also got up to leave, but Tsunade asked, "what are you doing!?"

Shinji said, "Well, you said for everyone to lea…."

"Never mind just have a seat", Tsunade interrupted both her and Shizune sweat dropped.

Shinji picked up one of the chairs in front of her desk and started walking towards the window.

Tsunade asks, "Shinji, what are you doing?"

"Huh, well you said I could have one of your chairs."

Several more sweat drops appeared on the heads of both women.

Tsunade than said, "Shinji that is not what I meant."

Shinji looked puzzled for a second or two than a look of understanding came to his face.

"Oh, this is one of those "Figures of Speech" things that people use…. Are you sure I still can't have the chair?"

"JUST PUT THE CHAIR BACK AND SIT IN IT ALREADY!!"

"Fine just calm down alright. Sheesh, don't get mad at me if you can't make up your mind! I guess Jiraiya was right you really are very irritable."

The sweat drops on the back of Tsunade and Shizune's heads grew again along a small vein bulging on Tsunade's forehead. After awhile Shizune coughed and Tsunade took the queue to get back down to business.

"So you will be picking up three of this village's young ninjas with the most potential to be students under Kirara Songaara, AKA 'Kirara of the Lightning Wind' for the purpose of aiding the secret organization known as the 'Shadow Guard' for the basic purpose of saving the world."

"Yep, that pretty much sums it up."

'_Though why they picked you for the recruitment and basic training I'll never know,' _Tsunade told herself.

With a sigh Tsunade said, "Very well, I will help however I can and lucky for you I had already had arranged for an apartment for you. In fact, here are the keys to it and the address is on the key tag, but I'm afraid I don't have a list of candidates ready for you yet."

"That's fine I prefer to pick them out myself anyway, but thanks all the same."

"Let me guess Naruto Uzumaki has already been placed on that list?"

Tsunade and Shizune were surprised to see that Shinji's Expression had completely changed. The constantly cheerful and somewhat inattentive expression that had been on his face the whole time was now gone in the blink of an eye and replaced by a serious, calculating, and completely attentive look.

"As much as I would like that, my mission takes priority over any personal preference, but I will say that he is already a potential candidate."

Tsunade took a second to reorganize her thoughts. _'As I expected, he's not a complete fool, but the seriousness in his eyes, the LOOK in his eyes, was more then I expected. This kid has obviously had a hard life, maybe even as hard as Naruto's! Given what he is, I can't say I blame him!'_ Tsunade couldn't help, but feel sorry for the poor young man. She than looked him in the eyes and said, "very well, but if there is anything else that I can do to help you please ask."

"Actually, I do have a personal request I would like to ask you Tsunade!"

"What is it?"

"I would like the authority to promote any Genin that is chosen to a full Chunin."

Shizune spoke up at that, "Absolutely not, that kind of authority is reserved for the Chunin Exams except for field promotions note: I figured they probably have this, and only a Leaf Jonin can recommend such a thing and you still have to have the Hokage's permission! Kirara Songaara can do this, but she was recognized and given the title of an honorary Leaf Jonin you have not be given this and you can not be allowed to….!"

Shizune was stopped by Tsunade who lifted her hand up giving Shizune the signal to stop talking. She than looked back at Shinji while bring up her hands to intertwine her fingers and than rested her chin on them and than gave Shinji a serious and slightly amused look. An idea had just crept into her head and she was in the mood to try it.

"If you can accomplish this one task than I will grant you permission to promote any Genin you have chosen to Chunin."

"TSUNADE," exclaimed Shizune!

"Quiet," Tsunade told her.

"Very well what's the task," asks Shinji.

"Your task is to take Kakashi Hatake's "Icha Icha Paradise" book from him and than bring it here!"

Shizune began to relax a little. _'I guess it's safe after all nobody can manage to take one of those books away from Kakashi. Not even this kid should be able to pull this…'_ Shizune's thoughts were immediately interrupted when Shinji pulled out the very book they were talking about. Shizune stumbled and fell on her face. While Tsunade hands fell to her desk as her jaw practically fell through her desk and than through the floor. Tsunade was the first to recover.

"H-how d-did y-you g-get t-that?!"

"Easy," Shinji said. "I met him on the way here and took it from him while he wasn't looking."

This did little to help their astonishment.

"Well a deal's a deal, right 'Granny' Tsunade?"

Too stunned to hit him Tsunade could only say, "Y-Yes."

"Well, I better get going. Guess I'll see you later."

With that done, Shinji jumped towards the window, but instead of opening it he became transparent and actually passed through the window without any physical hindrance.

Unfortunately, this managed to increase the astonishment of both women who could only stare at the window that he had just passed through.

After several minutes Tsunade asks, "Shizune do you have any idea who or what Shinji is?"

"You said his name is Shinji Tsunagi and that he is a member of the organization called "Forsaken" which I have heard little about, but still that doesn't…."

Tsunade had signaled her to stop talking again and then handed her the file that Tsunade had kept in a hidden slot under her desk since the day it was given to her and she was told what to expect of him. Even now she had a hard time believing what it said about him. By all accounts, his ancestors should have been completely wiped out centuries ago but, still here he was sitting in front of her proven so many historians wrong. To think that one of THEM was still alive, it was hard to believe.

Shizune opened it and after reading she looked back to where Shinji had left. She than looked at Tsunade and said, "this is impossible, h-he c-can't be…there must be some mistake!"

Tsunade responded, "But he is. I know I found it difficult to believe, but he is."

It was apparently true somehow there was a survivor from the ancient and long lost 'Village Hidden in Death'.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Later that day…

Hinata Hyuga was trying to enjoy the end of this nice sunny day, her mind wandering to thoughts about what a certain spiky haired blond ninja may be doing at this moment and if, just maybe, he was thinking about her.

This last train of thought caused Hinata to blush which only increased when one of her companion for today Rock Lee noticed this and asked her if she was feeling alright.

Her cousin Neji Hyuga had invited her to come to his training session with his old team. Neji had become a Jonin about three months ago and his two old teammates had both been Chunin for over a year now, Hinata herself became a Chunin during the previous Chunin Exam. Despite his usual complaints about his old squad mates (mostly Lee) it was obvious to Hinata that her cousin really cared about them and enjoyed spending time with them. Besides, after sparring a bit with them, it became obvious to Hinata that they could still fight well enough for her cousin to get a decent workout.

Neji ended up leaving, stating that he had to go on a mission early tomorrow morning and could not afford to wear himself out too much the day before his mission. Hinata had moved to follow, but Lee and Tenten told her that she could stay for a while longer if she wanted to.

Hinata, being the kind and polite person that she was, agreed to stay longer. This brought out an overexcited cheer from Lee and a smile from Tenten who whacked Lee over the head telling him to lower down on the loud cheering as it was startling poor Hinata, not to mention still embarrassing to his teammates after all these years.

When the time came for them to come home Lee and Tenten both offered to walk Hinata home saying that it was their pleasure and would give them (really just Tenten) a chance to see Neji again before he left. So with a nervous nod from Hinata, Tenten and Lee walked Hinata home.

As they were walking into town they stumbled across this strange young man they had never met before. He appeared to be talking to someone. However, neither Hinata, Tenten, nor Lee could see this person. They unconsciously slowed down upon seeing this, and as they got closer they began to hear what the strange young man was saying.

"….and I still can't understand why they were so shocked that I had already taken his book?!!" After apparently hearing his "unseen" and "unheard" companion response said, "I guess your right, I mean it did seem like a big deal to them. Though I still don't understand why! And yes I know those three over there," he point in the exact direction of the group, "are listening to us. What? Oh that's right, they can only hear me talking unless either you or me…." He then appeared to be getting yelled at seeing this Hinata activate her Byakugan to see if he was talking to someone who was actually hiding by us of a jutsu. What she saw shocked her speechless. "Okay, okay, I'll stop talking to you for now," said this stranger and with a slight sigh he approached Hinata, Tenten, and Lee both of who were asking her what was wrong.

As the stranger approached them he started introducing himself, "Hi I'm Shinji…," but was interrupted by Lee moving right in front of him telling him, "Take one more step and will suffer the consequences!"

Shinji gave him a blank look then began looking on the ground in front of him and asked Lee, "Why, was I about to step in something?"

Lee's response was, "Uuuhhh, no… I just meant you will have to fight me."

"Hhmm, why would I have to do that?"

"…Because, I'm warning you."

"Why?"

"Because I won't allow you to harm anyone here!"

"Why would I do that?"

"I don't know exactly…," it was than that he heard some trying to tell him something and than Lee realized that that someone had been tugging on his belt trying to get his attention. He turned and looked to see Hinata who than said to him (for the third time), "Ii-t's o-kay Lee-san, I w-was just a l-little s-startled t-that's all." She was still getting over from the shock of just WHAT SHE SAW!

What she saw of his companion was what appeared to be an oddly shaped body of chakra. It was probably, the palest shade of blue she had ever seen, and even stranger was the fact that it was maintaining itself without any physical form whatsoever.

But, that did not shock her as much as the other sight that she was now seeing before her. What startled her the most was that this young man (Shinji she believed he called himself) had what appeared to be kind of grey colored chakra!!! Not to mention he had the weirdest chakra system she had ever seen. And upon closer inspection she unknowingly asked out loud, "I wonder how many chakra points it must take to make up his chakra system and to get that shade of color?"

Surprisingly Shinji answered her question, "70 to be precise." This stunned and baffled both Lee and Tenten for a moment. At the same time this also embarrassed Hinata extremely when see now realized that she had said this out loud. After awhile Tenten asks, "Hinata are you sure that is what you saw?" Before Hinata could respond she was interrupted by a loud, "Wow." Out of instinct, Tenten's arm was in the motion of hitting Lee on the head for saying such a stupid thing at his time. But, her hand stopped half way when she realized that it was this Shinji guy that had said that.

"So you're Hinata! I heard about you from Naruto," said Shinji.

Everyone looked at him with surprise. Except for Hinata, who heads was spinning a little from what Shinji had just said. _'Naruto-kun…?'_

Tenten was the first to respond, "You know Naruto Uzumaki?"

"Of course, allow me to introduce myself, my name is Shinji Tsunagi and I spent about a year with him and the "Pervy-Sage" Jiraiya who was supposed to be training him. During that time Naruto and I became great friends. We even think of each other as brothers. In fact, it was Naruto who suggested it!"

"H-how long ago was that," asked Hinata?

"Hhmm, about five months ago."

"Oooohhhhh, Naruto's strength must have increased tenfold during his training with the legendary Jiraiya," exclaimed and energetic Lee!

"Oh, I don't think it increased that much," Shinji told him. "And to tell you the truth I was the one who ended up training Naruto most of the time I was there." He then looked at everyone. "In that times I only managed to increase his normal skills three times, I brought his chakra to about 2 times what it was when I met him, his chakra control I only managed to improve 3 times, and his Taijutsu skills about nine times counted the weapons training." Author's Note: Shinji didn't think much of Naruto's normal skills the first time he met him. Though he did agree with Jiraiya that Naruto had very good instincts when it came to fighting and that he can be quick on his feet. Shinji is in fact referring to what Naruto is now capable of doing. Naruto however does not know how to properly apply these new skills yet and thus is unable to fully use them. So, Shinji is not referring to what Naruto is capable of on an average basis.

"Are you serious," asked Tenten after waiting a few seconds?

When Shinji answered her everyone around him now noted that even though his eyes held the same energy they had had when he first approached them there was now a look to them that suggested to these who looked that he was not kidding in the least, "No I'm not kidding." Author's note: This ability of Shinji's to express his thoughts so well by just looking at someone is mostly due to his special heritage and not some form of Genjutsu.

"You trained Naruto!!!!" Lee exclaimed. Lee than brought his fist in front of him and said, "I must challenge you to test my skills against yours!!!!"

"Tell you what Lee; I was asked to come here to train and select a group of young ninja, so why don't you three meet me at...," he looked around and spotted a small mountain with five heads carved on it (the Hokage Mountain), "on top of that mountain at about 10:00 AM tomorrow and then I can show you how good I am."

Lee thought for a moment and then said, "Okay, and if I can not make it I will make myself run 1000 laps around the village, and if I can not do that then I will make myself do 3000…," he was thankfully stop by a severe blow to the head courtesy of Tenten. Tenten then said to Shinji, "Sure we'll be there right Hinata?" Said girl blushed a little, but gave a shy nod. "Well now that that's done we should all be heading home right now. See you tomorrow Shinji!" The three then left to go home (with the unconscious Lee being dragged by Tenten).

After a few steps Hinata said something to Tenten who nodded and continued on the way to Lee's house to drop Lee's unconscious form off. Hinata approached Shinji and asked, "W-would you mind walking me home?" Shinji said, "No problem, Hinata I guess this would give me time to know you better instead of just relying on what Naruto has told me." Hinata blushed at this and asks, "N-naruto-kun talked a-about m-me?" Many different romantic thoughts and images tried began to form in her mind as a blush appeared on her face, but she quickly pushed those thoughts before they became too intense. Despite this was determined to find out more.

"So what does N-naruto-kun say about me?"

"Let me think, well he didn't tell me exactly how pretty you are though he did mention it."

Hinata became a little light headed at this with a tomato colored blush appearing across her face.

"He also said you were a kind and brave girl, he liked being around you…."

_**Flashback**_

"So Naruto, what is this Hinata girl like anyway?"

Naruto thought for a minute. Then said to Shinji, "Well she's kind, brave, and I like being around her. Also, I think she is pretty…" Shinji was unable to hear Naruto describe her cooking as the sound of several slaps was heard by the two. Naruto sighed as he spoke, "Sounds like the Pervy-Sage was caught again. What was I saying?" Shinji shrugged and looked over his shoulder, "I don't know, but maybe we should drag him back before he gets us kicked out of town again." Both boys shook their heads and sighed then went to the task of hiding the old pervert before he could cause anymore trouble.

_**End of Flashback**_

"Yea, he definitely said you were pretty and all that other stuff, but aside from all that he didn't say much else after that."

Shinji realized that Hinata was not walking next to him anymore and heard the sound of something hitting the ground behind him. As he looked back he noticed Hinata lying face up on the ground. "Huh? I guess was right. You do sleep in the oddest places!" Luckily for Shinji, who didn't know where Hinata lived, Tenten had come across them on her way back from dropping Lee of at his house. She saw Hinata as she fainted and walked over picked her up commenting to Shinji, "You two must have been talking about Naruto."

"Does she always do this," asks Shinji?

"Only when it concerns Naruto."

"Huh, I guess I might have help with that within the next couple of months."

"Why? What happens in a couple of months?"

"Oh, that's when Naruto should be back."

_**End of Prologue**_


	2. Seven Weeks Passing

**Jesterman:** Hello again, I feel the need to make a statement about my story. This fanfic is not by any means a crossover. This is a pure Naruto fanfic and any similarities between these character's and places is for the most part unintended. That includes the currently mentioned OC characters.

These words and actions will be written in the following category:

**Jutsus: Bold**

_Characters' Thoughts: 'Italics'_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto and if I did I probably wouldn't be writing a fanfic here, when I could be making money writing this stuff for real.

**Note to the Readers:** This chapter takes place nearly seven weeks after the Prologue and two weeks before Naruto comes back from his 2 ½ years of training with Jiraiya. I would like to point out that at the rate the material for these stories are rolling out I will have to create more chapters than I originally thought I would be able to. I will go through with this anyway for you my loyal readers. (Yaaay, yahoo, yippee, etc.) I apologize, but this chapter turned out to be mostly flashbacks. So just please bare with me on this, okay?

Rated T

**The Path through Fire and Death**

**Chapter 1: Seven Weeks Passing**

Hinata Hyuga had rarely been this happy. Shinji Sensei had apparently even gotten Kurenai Sensei's permission to train her. The seven weeks of training with Shinji Sensei had done wonders for her in that surprising amount of time. Little did Hinata know she was secretly being followed by a familiar figure who kept to the rooftops to stay undetected.

Her skills and powers had increased greatly and with it her confidence. Of course, she was still a little shy and quiet most of the time, but some things never change. Shinji Sensei had told her it was alright and that in many cases she was wise to be quiet and (as he put it!) observant.

_**Flashback**_

"You can actually learn a lot more about what's going on around you when you take the time to listen instead of acting," he had reassured her. He was very patient when it came to training others like Hinata and he always seemed very interested in her successes. Surprisingly, he was actually more interested in her "strong-willed" determination than any actual achievements, which he did mention reminded him of Naruto. She of course blushed at the compliment and mention that she was greatly influenced by Naruto. He even genuinely praised her medical skills and use for herbs. Even more surprising, was that fact that he seemed to have very good medical skills and was able to help improve Hinata's. Some of the medical skills and techniques he used were completely unheard of to Hinata. When she asked him about that he told her, "I picked up this stuff during my travels and much of what you pointed out came from the Western half of this continent."

He had apparently done a lot of traveling in his life and was free when it came to sharing those stories. Though, Hinata could tell that he was purposely avoiding telling them certain ones. And the best Hinata could figure were they were extremely painful memories. She noticed a familiar look that she had often seen in Naruto's eyes and decided to respect his privacy, if he ever wanted to share his those parts of his past he would do so on his own.

He also helped her Taijutsu skills a lot. He seemed unusually familiar with the Gentle Fist style, something virtually unheard of outside her clan. He spent a lot more time, however, teaching her Ninjutsu and improving the Genjutsu her old sensei Kurenai had tried to teach her. Hinata was a little nervous about this at first seeing as how the Hyuga Clan was almost entirely Taijutsu and as the eldest daughter of the clan leader she was expected to follow these traditions. When she told Shinji this he, without much thought, told her:

"Hinata, that's ridiculous!"

"B-but, Shinji Sensei…"

"Look Hinata, it's a proven fact that in order to survive and become stronger clans must adapt and even change."

"B-b-but, a-as the eldest daughter of…"

"But nothing! Listen to me Hinata, if you want to exceed in life you can't let relics of the past such as certain traditions hold you back from reaching you true potential. And believe me; you have a huge amount of potential, even if it's not what everyone expects!"

Hinata blushed deeply at this. _'He says I have a lot potential!'_ Hinata asked Shinji, "A-are sure a-about m-me!?"

"Sure I'm sure, I just find it hard to believe that your not. I mean Naruto believed you did, and I can see why he believes that as clear as day!" Hinata blushed even harder at Shinji mentioning Naruto's confidence in her. "You just need to increase your skills in other areas. I have no doubt at all that this will improve your overall capabilities."

And slowly, Hinata began to follow Shinji's lessons and soon enough her overall skills did improve. Curiously, he insisted that some of the daily lessons involved using her chakra to help plants grow. Not that Hinata minded it, in fact she truly loved it, but she couldn't understand exactly how this would help her as much as he claimed it would.

He did of course spend time training Lee and Tenten as well as the new people he managed to gather. These people were Shikamaru Nara and Ino Yamanaka. Who were both a bit shocked and skeptical about him being from the long Lost Village Hidden in Death! They really didn't believe him at first. But eventually, they over came their shock and as for their skepticism Shinji's ability to walk straight through solid object as well as a few other demonstrations soon had them completely convinced. With the addition of Shikamaru and Ino total number of ninja being taught by Shinji Tsunagi was brought up to five.

Strangely, he had made each and everyone of the five swear never to tell anyone about him or the training they were receiving from him. He did say that their immediate family was already told his name and that he was training them, but aside from that they knew nothing more then they needed to. And no one who was receiving training from Shinji was allowed to let their family members know anything more. Or else, as in the case of Kiba Inuzuka who refused to do so, he would erase their memory and drop them off in a random spot inside the village before anyone could say anything (he had hung Kiba by his feet at the top of the ninja academy's flagpole figuring that some he knew would come by to pick him). He had also, much to everyone's surprise, spoke perfect dog (!!??) to Akamaru asking him not to tell Kiba about this in return for a 10 pound bag of multi-flavored dog treats. And, surprising everyone again as well as grossing a few out, Shinji actually ate a few extra dog treats that he had been keeping for Akamaru's training telling everyone, "It would be a shame to let these treats go to waste. And besides, they're pretty tasty!"

When any of them asked him why they were not allowed to tell anyone, all he would tell them was, "I don't want to cause any trouble. Besides, I have my own reasons for why I'm doing this."

He also changed the locations of where they were to meet him everyday as an extra precaution to make sure no one could find them.

After five weeks he gave out summoning contracts to those that didn't have any. Hinata had been given a Tiger Contract with a tattoo place on her arm so she wouldn't have to cut herself to summon one Authors Note: The idea of Hinata Hyuga cutting herself just doesn't seem right to me. Ino and Shikamaru both were given a Hawk Contract. What Lee got though was, to say the least, really unusual.

"O boy, O boy, what do you have for me Shinji Sensei," exclaimed a very loud and very excited Lee.

Shinji sat down on a log and thought for a moment. Then when he got an idea he began looking through his backpack. The backpack had always been an intriguing thing for Hinata. It carried way more than what it should physically be able to. When she asked about this Shinji showed that the inside of the bag was covered in runes. When she asked what they did he explained to he that these runes cause almost any item placed inside to shrink to a twentieth of its original weight and size. The only exception was a few rare mystical items, anything living, and items that were too big to normally fit in it. When Ino asked Shinji if he could make her one he stated that he had bought the item and was currently unable to successfully copy it. However, he was close to being able to produce minor versions with about a ¼ of the originals power. But, he was still trying to work out the glitches.

After he found what he wanted from his bag he drew out a brown colored scroll and placed it on the ground before him. He then said to Lee, "Considering your low amount of chakra there is very little you could actually summon. However, there is one type of summon creature that is capable of and has agreed to a specific contract allowing for an amazingly small amount of chakra needed to summon any of them. You would be capable of summoning any of them even their King despite your low amount of chakra. Unfortunately, they can be tough to deal with."

Lee looked him in the eyes and then he straightened and brought his right hand up giving Shinji a full professional military style salute. Sweat beads dropped at this and at what would inevitably come after. And then he said to Shinji loud enough for everyone to hear, "I vow that I will do my best to accomplish the task before me. By the power of youth!!! I will earn their respect through sheer determination and…" The rest was lost as Lee was dealt a devastating blow to the head courtesy of Tenten.

Shikamaru walked up to Shinji and asked, "Out of curiosity, what kind of creature does this contract summon?" Before Shinji could answer Shikamaru, Lee (who had recovered from Tenten's hit) immediately took the contract from were Shinji had put it and said to everyone, "I have vowed to master these summoning beasts and earn there respect. And I have full trust in Shinji Sensei's judgment." With that said he bit his thumb and signed the contract. And before anyone could stop him he fell to his knees and brought his hand down, "Summoning Jutsu!!!"

"NNNOOOO," Shinji cried as everything seemed to move in slow motion.

A thick cloud of smoke appeared as Shikamaru turned to Shinji to ask him what creature the contract was meant to summon, but before he could say anything the smoke cleared and the answer to his question could now be seen before him. What appeared through the smoke caused the jaws of everyone, except Shinji who already knew what it was, to drop. There before them was a SQUIRREL!!!

This squirrel had eyebrows like Lee and Guy's. It then said to everyone, "Hi my name is Chitters I'm here for the advisor position?" Lee did not fall over at this, but everyone else fell over. Minus Shinji who only sweat dropped at this.

Ino got up and turned to face Shinji and while pointing at the summoning exclaimed, "WHAT THE HELL, A TALKING SQUIRREL!!! YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT THERE IS SUCH A THING AS A SQUIRREL CONTRACT!!! WHO THE HELL HAS EVER HEARD OF A SQUIRREL CONTRACT ANYWAY!!!!!"

Ignoring him Shinji said to the stunned Lee, "Now Lee, I should warn you that they tend to be overly energetic, overly helpful, very loud, and…. Come to think about it they seem to match you perfectly!"

A few seconds past with Lee just looking at his summon. He then forced everyone within the vicinity to cover their ears as he gave the biggest shout "yahoo" that anyone present had ever heard from him. He then hugged the squirrel stating, "He's perfect, this is one of the happiest days of my life!!!" At this everyone (including Shinji) fell over.

During the seven weeks Hinata and everyone else got to know the other person who was helping them train. The gray mass of chakra that Sensei Shinji had been talking to was actually a real life ghost. He introduced himself in the second week of their training, "Hello, my name was and still is Kazumoto Yamazaki. 384 years ago I was a great and powerful ninja of the Yamazaki Clan. I chose to be Shinji Tsunagi's partner about ten years ago. And I have been his partner ever since."

Shinji then said, "Yep, and it wasn't until nearly eight years ago that I managed to find and master any of the Guardian Spirits!"

"Guardian Spirits," the students asked!?

Shinji informed them that, "Every member from the Village Hidden in Death has one spirit partner who can grant them their power and wisdom. But, a Death ninja usually uses more than one! Unlike a Spirit Partner they usually stay in type of hibernation stasis until they are called for. The number of Guardian Spirits a Death ninja can posses varies depending on three factors; the strength of that particular ninja, the power of the Guardian Spirits, and the most important of the three the method used to gather and maintain them. The can even use up to a hundred!" He then lifted up part of his bead necklace to better so that Hinata and everyone else could see it better. While holding it up he said to his five students, "I use these special beads to contain mine. Right now I have gathered 15 Guarding spirits, but I am only able to use at the most 8 of them at any given time."

"So, out of curiosity, how many types of ways to contain these Guardian Spirits are there," asked Shikamaru?

"To be honest, I'm not really sure! There are many ways to contain them, but I only know of a few!"

"A few huh?"

"Well, keep in mind, my people were almost wiped out by the Village Hidden in the Heavens about 500 years ago and we have been hunted down ever since. Though, the Heaven Village disbanded the official hunting parties about 100 years ago not many survived. There are only so few of my people left!"

"Wait a minute," said Ino, "does that mean there are more of you Death Nin running around?!"

Everyone looked expectantly at Shinji whose expression took on a look of regret, pain, and was that FEAR that he showed?!

"I'm sorry, but that is not a topic I am willing to discuss," said Shinji with a non-violent, but serious 'don't even try to pursue this topic' look that stopped any further questions about this matter.

…_**End of Flashback**_

Hinata couldn't help, but ponder, '_I can see why that would be such a sore subject for most people and not the kind of thing that anyone would want to discuss. But still, what was with that painful look of fear he showed? I wonder what could have happened to him? I mean, what could he be so afraid of?_' Hinata decided to stop thinking about what could cause Shinji-Sensei to be so afraid and to focus on getting to the meeting place on time. So she quickened her pace still unaware that she was being followed.

_**End of Chapter One**_


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